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Oh, they had found their true difference at last.

Chapter Six

‘COME ON.’ HE hauled her up. ‘Let’s go and eat.’

No more was said on the virgin front, but it hovered awkwardly between them.

Lunch in the most romantic, beautiful place in the world became a bit of a chore.

‘We could swim,’ he said as they dipped prawns in lemon mayonnaise. ‘Go out on a boat?’

She shook her head, and then admitted she hadn’t brought anything to swim in.

Gabe blinked. ‘You came to the Amalfi Coast with no bikini?’

‘I wasn’t expecting to relax for even a moment.’

‘But you are looking for thermal springs.’

‘I’ll buy something,’ she said. ‘I actually need to get a hat too. I didn’t bring the right clothes with me. I’m dying in this dress.’

‘The heat is different here.’

God, things were strained.

‘Honestly, I had a moment to pack.’ Then she rolled her eyes. ‘Actually, that has nothing to do with it—I have no idea when it comes to clothes.’

Gabe said nothing.

He wore sunglasses so she couldn’t read his eyes, but he seemed focused on eating the prawns.

‘Margot, one of the women at work, said something the other day.’

‘What?’

‘The dress I wore last night, the coral one, and this one, I bought them in my lunch break.’

‘And?’

‘She said, “Very Stella…”. I don’t think she was being nice. I should toughen up really.’

‘Don’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘You might end up like me.’

She could see her reddened reflection in his sunglasses and looked down as he scooped mayonnaise onto the last prawn.

‘Here,’ he said, perhaps feeling her watching, pushing the plate towards her when he wanted to hold his finger to her mouth, to feel her wet lips on his fingers…

Bloody virgins.

‘Let’s walk.’

They wandered along the busy streets and peered in shop windows, but things weren’t quite the same, and it annoyed her that he’d pulled back.

All the vibes, the flirting, the silent conversation, the eye meets, had stopped. She walked beside him and they chatted, when it got crowded he even took her arm, yet the thrum from him had gone. It felt like when she was in her flat and the power went out—the fridge whirred down to silence, the background noise that had been there gone, and she hadn’t been aware it existed, let alone its volume.